Former French PM Dominique de Villepin, masterful as usual in his explanation of the current "political deadlock" in Gaza.
"We are today, not only in a humanitarian impasse, but we are in a political deadlock.
Let me just clarify why there is a political deadlock. The political process that the Americans want to initiate... Blinken, we must measure the humiliation made to the Americans, has gone 7 times to this region. And Bill Burns today... All American authorities, President Biden, are mobilized for this. What do they want? They want to establish a special relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a normalization of relations by providing a guarantee, a guarantee pact to Saudi Arabia that would justify them taking this step.
What do the Arab countries want, and from this point of view they are united, we don’t hear much from them, but they are diplomatically united. They want recognition of a Palestinian state and this is something that will last.
What does Israel want? Israel, and this is where there is a hidden agenda and this is what is not acceptable, is that the reality of the policy led by Israel and the will of Israel, it is in no way to engage in a peace process. A large part of the fighting that is engaged is done to mask the fact that Israel, at least Benjamin Netanyahu, in no way wants negotiation. And why? Because they want to continue in the path of colonization and continue in the path of creeping annexation of the West Bank...
What do the Arab countries propose today? They have proposals regarding the day after, because this is an essential element of the negotiation and this is where Israel is bogged down for a long time in this affair, because it’s one thing to want to destroy Hamas, it’s another thing to manage the territory afterwards. The Arab countries propose that there be a UN international peace force installed on the ground and that can manage, in connection with the Palestinian Authority, the situation. The Americans, they would like it to be an Arab and American force. We clearly see that no one is on the same wavelength and that we are headed for a drama that lasts.
I would also like us to ask ourselves another question, since you asked me to put myself in the place of the Israelis, let's now put ourselves in the place of the global public opinion. What is going to happen? The day, I hope as soon as possible, when the gates of Gaza will open. The day this open-air prison, bombarded for 7 months, will reveal its secrets. What will we see, what will we find? Will all this be bearable? The price Israel pays today is its isolation and this too will last. We saw it at the UN with the vote, the decision of the General Assembly, 143 countries out of 193!"
(Translation by Arnaud Bertrand on X)